SPEAK TRUTH, DO JUSTICE

“So now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the LORD. —Zechariah 8:15–17

As the people were setting to work rebuilding their nation, city, homes, and temple, God was also concerned about them putting in the work to rebuild their relationships and their society. The assurance that God was offering to His people—the renewal of His relationship with them and the covenant He had made with their ancestors—was not only the foundation for their building projects. A restored relationship with God would recalibrate their relationships with each other and reorder their social systems. Trusting God would help the people build trust with each other. According to Zechariah, the “Do not be afraid” message had important and practical implications. It feels like it should have been unnecessary to warn the people not to “plot evil” against each other, but this is sometimes necessary among groups of people who have been dominated by survival and self-preservation instincts for decades.

When God’s people took His “Do not be afraid” seriously, they would work to speak truth and do justice in their personal relationships with each other and in the courts and other social systems they would establish. As God had always intended, the people of Israel were again called to become a nation that would be a light, an example, and a benefit to the nations of the world: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you” ’ ” (Zechariah 8:23).